https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/jan/07/half-of-a-yellow-sun-summons-a-gilded-age-as-well-as-an-atrocious-war

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel turns to the the tragedy of war only after conjuring the ‘marvellous complexity’ of intellectuals’ lives in early 60s Nigeria

There’s an agonising social exchange towards the end of the first part of Half of a Yellow Sun. Richard, a British man, is talking to a Nigerian poet called Okeoma about his interest in Igbo-Ukwu artefacts.

“I’ve been fascinated by the bronzes since I first read about them,” says the eager and enthusiastic white writer. “The details are stunning. It’s quite incredible that these people had perfected the complicated art of lost-wax during the time of the Viking raids. There is such marvellous complexity in the bronzes, just marvellous.”